Opposition delivers price punch

After assailing food minister Sharad Pawar for months on price rise, BJP president Nitin Gadkari blamed the entire UPA government on Monday for the state of affairs. This seems to be an effort to stop the Congress from escaping responsibility.

Gadkari put together a powerpoint presentation called Mahengai ka Mahaghotala (the price-rise scam). He said a mix of bad economics and bad handling by the agriculture, commerce and finance ministries had created the situation. “Mahengai ka mahanayak Pawar nahin hain, poori UPA sarkar hain (Pawar is not the only villain, the whole UPA government is to blame),” he said.

Gadkari said he would approach the Left and other opposition parties seeking help to run a joint campaign against price rise. He could request other parties to coordinate with the BJP in parliament. In fact, the BJP president is likely to get in touch with CPI general secretary AB Bardhan. “He [Gadkari] does not consider anyone a political untouchable. He is willing to go to Ajoy Bhavan (CPI headquarters) if required,” a source said.

The BJP also demanded a ban on all futures trading in commodities. The party produced RTI  data to show that 99% of all agricultural produce was in storage with private firms since it had been traded on paper.

“The only ones who have gained from this are corporates, speculators and multinationals,” Gadkari said. Though the BJP president did not connect any politician to speculative trading, he said such large-scale speculation would not have been possible without political involvement.